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It was nice hiding in the shelter of his arms, away from all the strangers on the other side of the door. For a moment, I fantasized that I didn’t have to go back to the party. But then the hug ended and reality beckoned.
“We should get back.” We both turned and stilled. Hale stood at the end of the narrow corridor, his expression blank and his eyes cold.
“Uh-oh.”
Speak Now
OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE
“Are you going to talk to me?”
“I have nothing to say.” Hale removed his tie and tossed it onto the accumulating pile of accessories.
“You haven’t spoken to me since dinner.”
“It’s late, Rayne. Tomorrow’s another big day. I just want to shower and get some sleep.” Without fully undressing, he closed himself into the bathroom and started the shower.
This was an unfamiliar side of Hale. He didn’t avoid confrontation. That was my schtick.
Hale found confrontation constructive and believed in resolving challenges the moment they arose, so I didn’t have a clue why now, of all times, he was choosing to avoid me.
He was obviously bothered by finding Barrett and I hidden away in a private corridor—hugging. I’d explained the situation. His brother was upset. A perfectly normal response to watching Elle with Paul. But Hale didn’t see it that way.
“People were looking for you,” he’d said accusingly, and I knew that wasn’t true.
“Who?” He and I both knew I wasn’t important enough to provoke a search party after five minutes.
“Tyler.”
Okay, maybe Tyler was wondering where I’d disappeared to, but other than him and Hale, no one else would have noticed that I left.
I’d tried to reason with him. “Hale, if you would have seen how upset Barrett got you would have followed him too.”
“No, I would have remembered that my brother’s a grown man perfectly capable of taking care of himself.”
When it was clear he was going to be a total bitch about it, I gave up and returned to the party. There were too many people around for us to continue bickering, so we let it drop. Mostly.
All night, whenever I asked him if he was okay, he just said, “I’m fine.”
Did he think I was born yesterday? I knew more than anyone what a crock of bullshit that line was. No one was ever fine when they said they were fine.
He took so long in the shower, I passed out before he made it to bed, which was probably a good thing. Sometimes the best solution was a little space to cool off—especially when one person was dead set on being a total drama queen about absolutely nothing.
The next morning I had a full schedule. I needed to get my wedding spray tan so it had time to set and the stink could wear off. Then I had to visit the florist with Quinn to preview the flowers—not really sure what I would add to that, but it was nice to be included.
Then I was having lunch with my mom and future mother-in-law at Le Crocodile at the Whythe Hotel over in Brooklyn. And after that we had the rehearsal dinner, which meant I needed to have the conversation I’d been putting off.
By the time I showered and put on a robe, Hale was already fully dressed to conquer the world and reading a freshly printed copy of the New York Times.
As soon as I sat, Percy brought me my usual—a macchiato and fresh croissant from the patisserie I loved over in Greenwich Village.
“Thanks, Percy.”
Hale barely looked up from his paper.
My desperation to explain myself was overshadowed by annoyance. It was bad enough that I had to go to bed last night with him upset with me, but was he seriously carrying his mood over into a new day?
“Good morning,” I said pointedly.
